Amazon announced five smart home devices, including the $200 Echo Time alarm clock and $230 Alexa Photo Frame, both available for purchase. A redesigned $500 Echo Show 16 is available for preorder, with shipping expected in mid-December.
The Alexa Home Map creates an interactive 3D view of a home. People can scan rooms with a compatible phone that has lidar, then add and control smart devices on the map; the exterior view is generated from the home’s address and existing map data. Amazon says the map can also show activity detected by Ring cameras.
Why it matters
Smart-home users could control devices through a map of their property, but combining home layouts and camera activity in one interface also raises privacy concerns; Amazon’s specific data protections are not detailed here.
